Essentials to Growing Your Business Blog Readership

Blogging well is the bottom line whether you maintain a personal or business blog. However, a well-read business blog that gets quality traffic is a world away from sharing your opinions, reviews, and personal beliefs in your personal blog. Since your business blog is a tool to promote and grow your business, remember that you must always:

• Maintain a professional tone.
• Not resort to any kind of arguments, personal or otherwise. Remember, a businessman discusses his view points, doesn’t counter someone else’s.
• Not resort to the online footprint sharing strategy, the ‘I visit your blog, you visit mine’ kind of a flippant, informal approach. You are here to only promote your trade/business/expertise, so your audience should be aligned to that singular aim.
• Always emphasize your positive points - don’t give your audience the impression that you’re hiding your negative points.

Once you’ve followed these guidelines, how do you go about getting your business blog noticed by professionals online? Following are ways you can successfully implement to get your blog noticed – thereby growing your business.

1. Explain your business – In the ‘About’ section of your blog, give a detailed, yet concise analysis of your business – the why, where, how, what and when of it. Give brief mention to how it affects the current trends of the trade you’re in. Quote some of the testimonials you’ve received. Briefly outline your code of ethics. And sum it up why you do what you do.
2. Employ an always formal, yet dignified and humble tone - Don’t be pompous and self-aggrandizing. But let the world know what you’ve achieved, in a very modest way. Humility while “tooting your own horn” is the trick.
3. Blogroll your business inspirations – If there are business peers and seniors that you look up to who have their own blog, link them on the side bar. And if you can mention in one or two words how they inspire you, do it.
4. Debunk popular myths about your business – Since you are in a business of your choice, it’s a foregone conclusion that you’d be an expert on it rather than laymen who claim to know more and spread myths and falsities. Make an effort to demystify some of the more far-reaching ones, so your readers know you’re an authority because of your experience and know-how, and not because of assumptions.
5. Compare your business to competitors and other international markets – Highlight those features that your competitors and outside markets don’t offer. Compare prices and trade opinions as well as benefits and disadvantages, if any. On either side, that is. Be fair, but if you are on the negative side, let there be a mere mention of it. Promise (and deliver) to iron out those creases.
6. Reach out to your audience – Showcase their feedback and comments in a blog post, it’ll give them the impetus to spread good words about your business. Let them know that their feedback and time are appreciated. The “Mind your Ps & Qs” way of life works in a business blog as well. Offer discounts, freebies, schwag bags, a referral, etc. in return, but wait for a few months before you do this. Over some months, you’ll also be able to gauge a client’s authenticity. Wait to build a firm online rapport, so that they know your appreciation cannot be taken for granted.
7. Be funny once a while – A video with your team’s antics as a de-stress mechanism or one of you goofing off on a holiday is a surefire way to make that human connect. This bridges all kinds of gaps and gives your audience some insights into your personal life, and provides a sense of trust in you.
8. Use SEO and SEM to your advantage – Write your blog posts catering to your search engine referrers. Understand search trends and communicate accordingly on your blog. This is a great way to increase readership of your blog.
9. Engage in discussions outside of your blog – And then reprint it (after taking necessary permissions, of course) on your blog, so that your readers know you’re serious about your business, and will do whatever it takes to ensure it achieves its potential.
10. Donate to a good cause – And highlight it on your blog, and let your audience see your altruistic side. This not only wins you their respect, but it has been found that it has a positive domino effect insofar that readers are also motivated to donate their money and time, among other things, to charities and causes that they believe in.

Remember, it is not about establishing a personal identity, but showcasing your business acumen and professional integrity to the online world, while adding a human touch to it. With these simple and easy-to-follow steps, your business blog can be used as the most efficient tool to promote and grow your business in today’s times.